Congressman introduces bill to require TWAS in all helicopters.
Congressman introduces Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant Helicopter Safety Act
“Had this system been on the helicopter, it is likely the tragic crash could have been avoided. These systems cost between $25,000 to $40,000 per helicopter.”
This is my opinion based on what we know from the incomplete investigation. Things could change as more information comes out but so far it looks like a classic case of poor weather- followed by inadvertent loss of visual reference- followed by disorientation- followed by accidental descent into the terrain.
It actually sounds very unlikely a TWAS system would have prevented the accident as accidental descent caused by disorientation is the most plausible explanation for the data they’ve released. Also passenger carrying aircraft would make more sense than “all.” That was what the NTSB recommended so hopefully that’s the intent.
I think avionics that help reduce the chances of disorientation would be far more effective. Synthetic vision technology is out there. Oddly usually only on airplanes that fly so high it’s of little value.
This sort of display is extremely intuitive and in my opinion makes disorientation from a transition to instruments far safer. The red is areas above the altitude of the aircraft and the yellow usually means areas they are above but within 500 feet. This is in my opinion more and better information than a TWAS anyway, and appears to be about the same price.
Bang for the buck TWAS would be my third choice behind synthetic vision and auto-pilot. If they end up installing TWAS and the price makes it too expensive to get the other two it will be a mistake in my opinion. For other reasons I won’t get into, I also think TWAS could lead to accidents in helicopters or be ineffective. It’s of more value on airplanes.
Combined with an auto pilot, an inadvertent IMC situation could be a relatively low workload transition for the pilot to what it is now. The Kobe helicopter apparently had an auto-pilot though that had a “go around” mode (maybe it wasn’t working though have to wait for investigation). If it did work had he simply trusted the system and pressed it it would have began a straight climb and based on the data- easily cleared all terrain.